Paper-slitting device.



PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

D. L. MGGORKINDALE- PAPER SLITTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15,1904.

2 SHEETS-4511331 1.

Q N R No. 801,036. PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. D. L. MGGORKINDALE.

PAPER SLITTING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 15,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Q.

UN ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAPER-ISLITTING DE VICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed July 15, 1904. Serial No. 216.763.

To all whom. it warty concern:

Be it known that 1, DUNCAN L. MoOoRKIN- DALE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Paper-Slitting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to paper slitters, more especially of that class used on papermachines, the object of the invention being to provide a construction in which the rotary slitters are capable of adjustment from a point outside of the machine, whereby the upper or lower cutters may be all simultaneously adjusted or whereby certain of the slitters of either upper or lower set may be adjusted independently of the other slitters, all adjustment being effected from a point outside of the machine.

The inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a slitter mechanism embodying the invention shown as applied to the paper-machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, somewhat enlarged, of one of the lower slitters, shown partly in section. Fig. i is a sectional elevation of one of the screwthreaded sleeves whereby the slitters are adjusted, certain parts being broken away. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional elevation on line 5 5, Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, aaindicate parts of the two side frames of a paper-machine, in which frames are rotatably mounted the upper slitter-shaft b and the lower slitter-shaft 0. Beneath the latter is one adjusting-shaft d, and above and a little to one side of the shaft 5 is the second adjusting-shaft cl, these shafts being also rotatably supported in suitable bearings. On the slitter-shaft 0 is a driving-pulley c, and near the latter is a gear f, meshing with the gear f on the slitter-shaft 7), whereby rotary motion may be imparted to thetwo slitter-shafts in opposite directions. On the left-hand end of the adjusting-shafts (Z and cl beveled gears g and h are provided,with which the smaller beveled gears jand j engage, these last-named gears being mounted on a shaft k, supported in suitable bearings in operative relation to said beveled gears g and it. The shaft it carries a hand-wheel m or some equivalent means, whereby it may be rotated,whereby the adjusting-shafts (Z and (Z may be simultaneously rotated.

Referring to Fig. 2, the web of paper is indicated by 0, and it is supported on two rolls p and q, between which are located the slitters, the latter being mounted, as usual, near the last drying-cylinder q. These slitters consist, as usual in this class of devices, of rotary cutters and have a spline-and-groove engage: ment with the shafts b and 0 to rotate with and slide on said shafts. The cutters on the shaft 5 are indicated by r, and those on the shaft 0 by s. The edges of these cutters overlap and are adjusted to rotate in contact, the circumferential speed thereof being equal to the speed of movement of the paper through the machine. Generally and preferably the cutters on one of the shafts are secured thereon, and the cutters on the other are springpressed against them.

In many of the paper-machines as constructed at the present time the width of the web of paper is so great that it is a matter of great inconvenience to manually adjust the slitting-cutters, as those of the latter which are near the center of the machine cannot be reached from the side. By means of the present invention all adjustments of the slitters can be, as stated above, effected from a point outside of the machine, and in carrying this invention into effect the adjusting-shafts (Z and d are rotatably mounted, as described, in proximity to the slitter-shaft. The hubs of each of the slitters are provided with annular grooves, as t, with which forks u and u engage, the latter being made of spring metal, whereby the slitter .9 may be yieldingly held against its mate. The hubs of these forks are screw-threaded and screwed onto the externally-threaded sleeves '0. These (one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 4) are adjustable endwise on the shafts d and d and are located as desired on said shafts by means of collars w at each end thereof, which by setscrews are secured to said shafts, the sleeves being rotatable on the shafts between the collars. One end of each sleeve is turned ofi on a taper, as at w, and a hand-wheel y is arranged to be screwed onto said tapered portion, which, as shown in Fig. 4:, is split longitudinally, to the end that by screwing the hand-wheel on or off from said tapered portion w said sleeve may be secured to or released from the adjusting-shaft on which it is mounted.

IIO

As shown in Fig. 1, the sleeves located on one side of the longitudinal center of the machine are provided with a right-hand thread and those on the opposite side of said center line with a left-hand thread, and it will also be observed that this arrangement of the sleeves is the same, both on the shaft (Z and the shaft (Z. Therefore if the sleeves o are all nonrotatably secured to their respective shafts b and c and the shaft Z: be rotated each pair of slitters on the left-hand side of the center line of the machine will move to the right simultaneously without alteration of the distance between them, and the two pairs on the opposite side of the machine will move in the opposite direction also without altering the distance between them. This adjustment will effect an alteration only in the width of the strip being out between the cutters lying contiguous to and one on each side of the center of the machine.

If it is desired to adjust one pair of the slitters alone, then it is necessary to turn back the hand-wheels 11/ on the tapered end of the sleeves 4! on each of the other slitters on both of said shafts to release the sleeves from rotative engagement with the shafts. If then the shaft K; be rotated, only that pair of slitting-cutters the sleeves o of which remain in rotative engagement with the shafts (Z (Z will be shifted, the others remaining stationary.

Any pair of slitters may be adjusted in the same way by loosening the hand-wheels 1 of the other pairs. These hand-wheels may be readily turned from either side of the machine by a suitable fork to tighten or loosen the same, and the adjustments of the slittingcutters may be made with the utmost nieety by the operation of the shaft in. The nature of these adjustments is such, however, that as at present effected it is necessary for a man to climb up over the top of the machine to adjust each one separately.

It will be observed that the sleeves 51 are made of sufficient length to permit of a very wide range of adjustment, and by the opera tion of these devices, as described, they can be adjusted to cut any desired width very conveniently.

By referring to Fig. 5 the construction may be most clearly followed, as the essential elements of the invention (barring the shaft is) and their relative positions are shown in said figure on a much enlarged scale.

In Fig. 3 is shown the construction of one of the slitters when provided with means to hold the same in yielding contact with the opposite cutter. 111 this construction the slittin g-cutter sand its hub instead of being made in one piece are in separate pieces, and the hub 3 rotates with and has a sliding movement on its shaft, as c, in precisely the same manner that the cutter slides thereon in the construction shown in Fig. 1. In the construc tion shown in Fig. 3, however, the ends of the key or spline 4c are turned up, the one to engage the flanged end of thehub having the annular groove ttherein, and the other to engage a collar 5, mounted on the opposite end of the hub, the slitting-cutter 8 being mounted on the hub inside of the collar 5, and with which it is rotatably connected bya pin 6, fast in the collar and loosely fitting into a hole in the slitter. Between the side of the slitter and the flanged end of the hub is a spiral spring 7, which tends to press the slitter toward the collar 5. When the edge of the slitter s comes in contact with the edge of the slitter 0', the spring 7 will yield, and the slitter s will slide on the hub away from the collar 5, but witl out becoming disengaged therefrom.

When it becomes necessary to disturb the adjustment of the cutters for any reason as, for example, when the cutters on one of the shafts b or c are shifted to permit the web of paper to run through the paper-machine uncutit is desirable to be able to reset the shifted cutters accurately to the position they occupied before they were shifted, and to that end an indicator consisting of a rotatable disk 10 is mounted on the machine in proximity to the shaft 70. This disk has gear-teeth cut on its periphery which engage a worm 12 on the shaft 7:, a pointer 1 L being secured to the frame of the machine to overlap the disk, which is provided with suitable graduationmarks. By this means when it is desirous to reset the cutters the shaft k may be rotated until the scale on the disk 10 gives the same reading that it gave prior to the shifting of the cutters.

Preferably the screw-threads on the sleeves 0; are square threads, and in the hub of the arms a a set-screw 15 is located to be turned down on one of the threads to hold said arm immovable on the sleeve whenever the latter is released from its shaft.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that all of the inconvenience attendant upon the adjustment of the slitting-cutters of paper-machines as now practiced is overcome by means of the present invention.

It is obvious that when the various cutters on either side of the central longitudinal line of the machine are adjusted simultaneously the cutters contiguous to said line will move away from each other, whereas all the other cutters on the same side of the line will move in the same direction. Therefore the strip of paper between the cutters next the center of the machine will be widened on both edges simultaneously, and to offset this gain in width of the center strip of paper the screw-threads on the sleeves outside of the two central slitters are made with a proportionately greater pitch, whereby the adjusting movement of all the slitters on one shaft in the same direction may be uniform when either the shaft (Z or (Z is rotated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters, in combination with means to adjust all of the cutters simultaneously in the direction of their axes, and in opposite directions relative to the longitudinal center of the machine.

2. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters, in combination with means to adjust one or more pairs of the cutters independently relative to another pair or pairs, in opposite directions relative to the longitudinal center line of the machine.

3. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters and two parallel shafts on each of which one cutter of each pair is mounted, in combination with adjusting devices to adjust the cutters on either of said shafts independently of those on the other shaft, and in opposite directions relative to the longitudinal center line of the machine.

4;. In combination with apaper-machine, slitting devices therefor consisting of a pair of rotary cutters located respectively one above and one below the web of paper, and adjusting means for the cutters extending to one side of the paper-machine, whereby said cutters may be adjusted together, or independently, one of the other, in opposite directions relative to the longitudinal center line of the machine.

5. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters and two parallel shafts on each of which one cutter of each pair is supported, an adjusting-shaft located near each cutter-shaft, a mechanism on each of said adjusting-shafts to engage each cutter; means to rotate said adjusting-shafts, and a device associated with each of said mechanisms to render the latter inoperative.

6. The combination with a pair of rotary cutters, of an adjusting-shaft located near one of the cutters, an externally-threaded sleeve secured on said shaft to rotate therewith, an arm on said sleeve connected with said cutter, and means to release the sleeve from the adjusting-shaft.

7. In combination witha paper-machine, slitting devices therefor consisting of a pair of '-rotary cutters located respectively one above and one below the web of paper, and adjusting means for the cutters extending to one side of the paper-machine, whereby said cutters may be adjusted together, or independently, one of the other, and an indicating device connected with said adjusting means, to show the adjusted position of the cutters.

8. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters in combination with means to shift two or more of said pairs of cutters on their supporting-shafts simultaneously one farther than the other.

9. A paper-slitting machine comprising a plurality of pairs of rotary cutters mounted on either side of the central, longitudinal line of the machine on suitable shafts extending transversely of the machine, and means to shift the cutters on opposite sides of said line in opposite directions by one operation, and certain of them farther than the others.

D. L. MCCOBKINDALE.

IVitnesses:

K. 1. GLEMoNs, WM. H. UHAPIN. 

